TUNING IN TO "V-MAIL'

Steve Meloan, SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, August 27, 1995

I'm sitting at my desk watching several small windows on the screen of my computer, each containing separate moving figures. At the top of one reads "Johnny R.U.K." ; on another is "Suzi - S.F." The images are jerky, and in black and white, but there's something entrancing, almost mesmerizing, about it all - far more so than with mere television. There's an entirely different feeling, one of uncertainty and surprise, possibly even danger. It's the subliminal knowledge that anything can happen. There are no corporate networks or cable companies involved in these transmissions. It's live, and I mean live!

The future has become reality. What was once found only in the realms of science fiction has now materialized in the homes and offices of today's mere mortals. With the aid of your personal computer, you can now see the person at the other end of your phone line.

A hot new Internet-based videophone facility known as CU-SeeMe is currently sweeping the Net world. Enabling world-wide video / voice communication for the price of a call next door, the technology is fast becoming the must-have software tool for the Nethead in the know.

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Originating at Cornell University in 1993, CU-SeeMe follows in the footsteps of many other ground-breaking developments of the modern computer era - that is, outside the corporate mainstream. A product of Cornell's Information Technology Department, the application was originally written by Tim Dorcey. The project has since greatly expanded, and now includes a team of eight developers headed by Richard Cogger.

The hardware setup is minimal. All it takes to get on board is the CU-SeeMe software itself (available for free on-line from Cornell), a Slip / PPP Internet connection (with at least a 14.4 baud modem), and the Quickcam, a tiny black-and-white digital camera available for under $100 from Connectix Corp.

While originally developed for the Macintosh platform, the application is now both Mac and Windows compatible - including Windows 95.

CU-SeeMe "broadcasts" occur out of high-end computer servers known as reflectors. These act as the equivalent of public-access cable facilities. Once you connect, your feed is then freely disseminated to any and all who happen to also connect at that site.

While a one-to-one configuration is possible independent of any reflector site, the reflector technology facilitates a simple but elegant video party-line capability. In other words, everyone can potentially see and hear everyone else - all at the same time. It's the audio-visual equivalent of the chat rooms currently so popular on services such as America Online.

Well over 50 reflector sites currently exist for CU-SeeMe, with the number growing by the month. But, as in the early days of television, they often operate only during specified hours. And while some are deemed

"public," others are closely tied to corporate or educational institutions, with varying degrees of restriction.

In reality, even with a 28.8 baud modem - the fastest data rate available with a standard dial-up line - the bandwidth headroom for real-time audio / video applications is still woefully lacking. It's like trying to connect a garden hose to a fire hydrant.

As a result, the end effect with CU-SeeMe is typically a jerky, several-frames-a-second of video, and audio that often sounds like someone gargling underwater. (On a more ominous note, if overall usage increases as predicted, a sufficient number of simultaneous transmissions could literally bring the entire Internet to its knees.)

But all of this is little more than an "engineering problem," according to Michael Sattler, a San Francisco computer consultant and recognized authority on CU-SeeMe. Sattler, who is currently writing a book on CU-SeeMe, points out that the bandwidth issue is already well on the way to being resolved.

"With ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Networks) lines, the phone companies can now offer data rates of at least twice those currently available over standard lines," he explains.

These high-speed lines can already be had in many major cities for as little as $30 a month. And with Congress having now authorized the cable television industry's much-heralded entry into the communications data-race, ultra high-speeed, mega-bit connections may soon become available at competitive cost.

For now, the current state of CU-SeeMe resembles that of the very earliest era of television - a parlor gimmick, operated and utilized from within a small, close-knit group. But as a result, the medium possesses a level of freedom and experimentation not seen since those early pioneer days of the tube.

CU-SeeMe is clearly a medium in search of its message. As such, the prime directive seems to be simply one of pushing the envelope. The twin sacrosanct criteria are that it 1) be live and / or 2) interactive.

Thus, sex has become an increasingly hot topic of conversation within the burgeoning world of CU-SeeMe. But it's been a driving force within many new communications technologies - from the printing press to the VCR.

CU-SeeMe takes "900 number" phone-sex to a whole new, visual plane. Postings appear regularly in various sex-related newsgroups on the Internet. And what began as the tentative query for "cyber-swinging" has now expanded into actual pay-per-view sex services utilizing this new medium. But at prices of up to $4.95 per minute, it remains to be seen just how viable such enterprises will be, particularly in light of the current technical limitations.

San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles already boast a growing number of CU-SeeMe cyber-cafes - taking the concept of hanging beyond mere physical geography. Meanwhile, scheduled CU-SeeMe events also increase steadily in scope and number.

This Labor Day weekend will find San Francisco consultant Alfredo Lusa offering up his second annual coverage of the

"Burning Man" event. A self-described "ragtag assemblage of neo-pagans, hippies and lawyers, which culminates in the ritual torching of a four-story high figure made of neon and wood," the gathering is perfect grist for this cutting-edge new medium. Viewers from around the world can now see, hear, and interact in an event normally reserved for the hardy few, those mad enough to trek out into the scorching Nevada sands.

At the opposite end of the spectrum lies Buzz magazine's

"Literary Salons." These tony, invitation-only readings, held at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont Hotel, may soon open their exclusive doors to the masses - courtesy of CU-SeeMe. And for gatherings which regularly include informal question-and-answer sessions with "A-list" authors, CU-SeeMe comes uniquely well suited to the task.

"It's relatively easy to put on," says Buzz editor-in-chief Allan Mayer. "For us, it's just a slightly more elaborate version of the on-line press conferences held on services like America Online."

Stretching the interactivity envelope still further is San Francisco performance artist George Coates. Coates's artistic charter has long been to incorporate the latest cutting-edge technologies into his avant-garde theatrical works. The recent "Nowhere Band" shows, originating out of his gothic cathedral performance space on McAllister St., featured a surreal, theatrical melange of live on-stage performers and projected

"inter-actors" - the latter transmitted from sites around the globe via CU-SeeMe.

Meanwhile, in spite of its current bandwidth limitations, even musical events are showing up on CU-SeeMe. Austin, Texas, long a hotbed of the live-music scene, now sports CU-SeeMe-ready club venues, courtesy of media-consultant Dannen Harris. Harris also plans a CU-SeeMe based video jukebox facility.

Originally intended to offer greater (read: global) exposure to several local independent bands, the video-on-demand concept has already caught the attention of a number of major record labels. On a related note, the student-run television station at Texas University features a 24 hour MTV-like music show utilizing CU-SeeMe. With this new technology, even a college-level station can now span the globe.

A CU-SeeMe "TV guide" just started up on the World Wide Web. Here browsers will find 24-hour InterneTV, Space Shuttle launches, the Burning Man, and more. And, perhaps in the future, medical consultations, on-line classrooms, and emergency services.

Where it goes from here is anyone's guess. Cornell recently joined forces with White Pine Software in a high-end professional version of its original free-ware product. This new incarnation will include color capacity, application sharing between users (such as spread sheets), an interactive "white board" and greatly enhanced audio - but all for a price.

Cornell, meanwhile, remains committed to maintaining some semblance of its original free-ware presence for the software.

CU-SeeMe is clearly still in its formative stages. It may very well evolve into an entirely new communications medium - the functional melding of the computer, the television, and the telephone. As an interactive visual technology, its applications in the fields of music, entertainment, education, and more, have only just begun to be explored.